Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Judicial Branch, Day 5 - Class Recap


Snowy Denver in 2007. Will we get some snow soon? Possibly!

Dear class,

It was a mostly a review and study day in class, for the upcoming judicial branch test. Here's what happened today in class:

Learning Targets Addressed:
Knowledge LT 2: I can demonstrate an understanding of the role of governments in current issues.
Knowledge LT 5: I can demonstrate an understanding of the principles, structures, and functions of different levels of U.S. government.

Soundtrack: "Rockin' in the Free World" by Neil Young. Selected for today because the laws of our country are supposed to ensure freedom. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 12/6/16:
News Brief – Jose
Mock Trials
The National Judiciary
Study Guide

Homework: Read the blog. Study for judicial branch test next class. Next news brief: Michael.

News Brief: Jose had the news brief today but was not in class, so we skipped this for today.

Michael was assigned to do the next news brief.

Mock Trials: We finished up this activity from last class, and had a debate in class today about the final case:


I was pleased to hear so many well thought out opinions on this case, which involves saying the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools.

The National Judiciary: To help with understanding the process for how the Supreme Court takes and decides cases, here are two videos (we did not watch these in class, due to time):



These videos are pretty cheesy (and older), but do a good job of explaining what happens!

We went through this in detail today - thoroughly reviewing the main concepts of the unit:


Juries/Study Guide: Most of class was spent going over many questions about the judicial branch. I also passed out this study guide (the juries reading was on the back side) for preparation:


Google Drive: Reading on Juries for Judicial Branch Test

One of the questions on the test will be (thanks for checking the blog!): In this case the U.S. Supreme Court declared that no one accused of a crime has to stand trial in any court in the land without benefit of counsel unless he or she specifically refuses it.
A. Dred Scott v Sanford C. Gideon v Wainwright
B. Plessy v Ferguson D. Brown v Board of Education

If you aren't sure, guess in the comments and I will tell you what the answer is!

See you next class, for the test! Then we will close before break by watching a movie about the judicial process. :-)

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